Department Chair (Psychological Sciences)

Hiring Department

Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL)

The Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri-St. Louis has a distinctive learning environment that prepares graduate and undersgraduate students for careers that are indirectly or directly within modern psychology. Many faculty members are nationally and internationally known scholars in their fields of research. In turn, this expertise informs the content of what we teach.

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Job Description

The Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) is seeking a highly qualified and enthusiastic individual eligible to be hired at the rank of Associate or Full Professor (with tenture) to serve as the Chair of the department.

UMSL prides itself on its diverse student body and faculty and is committed to fostering an inclusive and muticultural environment. We strive to be a leader in the pursuit of excellence in education, impactful research, and community service.

UMSL's Department of Psychological Sciences is one of the most complex and high performing departments in terms of research, teaching, and service. It is among the largest on campus, both in terms of faculty and students; the latter enrolled in several majors (e.g., BA/BS in Psychological Sciences and BA in Applied Psychology of Child Advocacy Studies), minors, certificates, and graduate programs (e.g., PhD Clinical Psychology, MA & PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience). Additionally, serveral training clinics and research centers are affiliated with the department(i.e., Community Psychological Services, Children's Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis, the Center for Trauma Recover, the Center for Behavioral Health, and the Missouri Institute of Mental Health). The faculty are research active and routinely obtain funding from a wide variety of federal, state, and local sources (e.g., NIH, NIDA, NSF, SAMHSA, DOJ).

Essential Duties

The department seeks an inspiring and thoughtful leader to work in collaboration with its faculty.

Personnel Management: Overseeing and managing departmental faculty and staff; including training, performance reviews, and professional development. Monitoring teaching and service loads to ensure balance among faculty.

Curriculum and Scheduling: Maintaining and enhancing the Psychological Sciences curriculum and ensuring its alignment with academic standards and current rsearch trends. Managing course scheduling to optimize student learning experiences.

Budget and Resource Management: Managing the department's budget, allocating resources effectively, and ensuring fiscal responsibility. Overseeing departmental facilities to maintain optimal and safe learning and research environments.

Recruitment and Retention: Developing and implementing strategies to promote the Psychological Sciences department, both internally and externally, to recruit talented faculty and staff and enhance retention by fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment for working and learning.

Balanced Advocacy: Overseeing the balance between advocating for the specific needs of the department and the broader interests of the College and University.

Teaching and Research: Teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate level in line with area of expertise (1:1 teaching load), conducting research, mand mentoring graduate students.

Qualifications

A Ph.D. in Psychology or a related field, with a specialty that compliments the various curricular and research foci within the department (e.g., clinical psychology, neuroscience, trauma, addiction studies, child development/advocacy).

Evidence of excellence in research, teaching, and scholarship and distinction in professional achievements appropriate for appointment as a tenured advanced Associate or Full Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences.

A successful history of administrative service and leadership and an ability to develop and implement a departmental strategic vision; fostering growth and excellence in research, teaching, and community engagement.

Related experience in duties that suggest the potential/capacity to monitor fiscal and operational aspects of outpaintent training and research clinics.

Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills.

Integrity and transparency - skilled at facilitating open communication and leadership within the department and across the university.

An ability to maintain and foster our departmental culture of collegiality, serving as a strong and supportive colleague and leader to faculty, staff, and students.

A commitment to the recruitment, retention, and mentoring of faculty and students from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences.

Application Materials

Interested candidates should submit: a cover letter that includes relevant leadership experiences, a current CV, a statement of research interests, and a statement of teaching interests and/or pedagogy. Letters of recommendation will be requested for finalists. Reference checks will be conducted for finalist candidates. Review of materials will begin September 1st, 2024 and continue until an adequate pool is established, or until the appointment is made. Reference checks will be conducted for finalist candidates. Review of materials will begin August 10th and continue until an adequate pool is established, or until the appointment is made.

Application Deadline

Review of applications will begin September1st, 2024, and will continue until the position is filled.

Other Information

The University of Missouri, St. Louis is a metropolitan, public research and teaching institution consistently recognized for strong academic programs across disciplines and is considered a driver of the St. Louis economy. Supported by nearly 700 faculty across nine schools and colleges. The University is a Tier 1 institution, is ranked first in Missouri and ranked in top 75 schools nationally for “Social Mobility” and is a long-time recipient of the Insight Into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award. The University is ranked among the nation’s Best Colleges for educating our Veterans. The University is focused on advancing inclusive prosperity for all our students. The University serves over 15,000 students annually and the mission of the university is to serve the diverse needs of students in the state’s largest metropolitan community. As such, education is focused on both traditional and nontraditional students, student retention, providing academic supports, and graduation of the most diverse college-educated work force of any university in the state. Graduates reside in all 50 states and throughout the world, but most graduates live, work, lead, and contribute to the diverse, economic local economy. Alumni contribute $13.4 billion annually in economic impact to the state of Missouri, including Fortune 1000 companies and by leading large corporations.

Benefit Eligibility

The University of Missouri - St. Louis offers benefit-eligible employees a wide variety of benefits including: health, dental and vision coverage effective on the first day of employment, retirement, paid time off, tuition assistance for employees and their dependents and employee and dependent life insurance. For more information about our benefits, please visit:

https://www.umsystem.edu/totalrewards/benefits

Values Commitment

We value the uniqueness of every individual and strive to ensure each person’s success. Contributions from individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives promote intellectual pluralism and enable us to achieve the excellence that we seek in learning, research and engagement. This commitment makes our university a better place to work, learn and innovate. In your application materials, please discuss your experiences and expertise that support these values and enrich our missions of teaching, research and engagement.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of Missouri System is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Equal Opportunity is and shall be provided for all employees and applicants for employment on the basis of their demonstrated ability and competence without unlawful discrimination on the basis of their race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable state or federal law. This policy applies to all employment decisions including, but not limited to, recruiting, hiring, training, promotions, pay practices, benefits, disciplinary actions and terminations. For more information, visit https://www.umsystem.edu/ums/hr/eeo.